Eleven Slimes.
A family, you could say.
They all jiggled in their place, as though to hold a conversation. Merrily consuming the bones that the head honcho had deigned for them to feast upon.
However, I would have to cut their story time short, as sneakily crouched in my bush, hiding from sight, as I stalked them from atop a hill.
While the group was far larger than the one that I had jumped. They were also less brightly colored compared to the previous batch I slew. Only possessing a collective range of reds and greens.
Whereas, I had unknowingly jumped a half-step cyan with its mobile food storages.
Dismissing the thought, I turned around and glanced down at the small wooden barrel in my hands. One that was conveniently filled with alcohol.
Now, whether the alcohol content of the barrel was enough for the plan or not, was up to anyone's guess. But after taking a sample, it seemed distilled enough.
So, after filling its opening with a cloth lathered in the slime gel I gathered from my foes, I sparked a match and prepared for the pyrotechnics.
"Fireball!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
The explosive tumbled in the air, wildly spinning until it struck the ground with a loud crack!
"Fun Fact: Molotov Cocktails are a viable strategy against slimes."
Fighting like I did would have been very ill advised against so many slimes. But, with how my previous battlefield had been an empty expanse, it was more likely to hurt me than kill slimes due to the environment.
Unlike here where I was safe watching the slimes die one by one.
After the fire died out, I collected the remnant mana cores, and swiftly made it back to the village.
Triumphant over the grand trial that had been granted to me. The gods above set the scene like today was the second coming.
The sun was setting, cashing a long shadow over me, the village seeing my arrival from a mile away.
And while I was met with more than one questionable stare, it wasn't all bad, as most others just looked at me with awe.
"Is that really him?"
"He looks like a new man!"
"Did Don really clear out all of those slimes in the forest?"
"You could hear the explosion from kilometers away. It was just a wonder how he can still he-"
The discussion was cut off as I entered the guild building. Walking up to the front desk, the clerk took note of my disheveled appearance before raising a brow.
"I finished the slime extermination quest." I answered crisply, the definition of nonchalance.
Presenting the notice I had taken down earlier in the day, I also presented the several cores I collected throughout the day, evidence of my conquest.
The clerk merely shrugged, counting the number of cores, before reaching for something beneath the counter.
With a clink, she produced a bag of coins. My reward for all of the hardship I had to endure.
"Will that be all?" She drawed expectantly.
"No, my business here is done for today." I replied, all hero-like.
Quest complete!
Up-beat pop music played at the back of my head as I left the guild, a dumb grin plastered across my face.
I did it! I did it! Yeah, I did it!
While it might have looked like I was entirely calm on the outside, internally, I was celebrating like there was no tomorrow.
And when I returned to the inn, I decided to treat myself a little bit.
"Jeff, I need enough alcohol to kill a man!" I called out to the owner.
"Coming right up Don!" Replied a burly man with a grin just as large as mine.
Naturally, I just had to spread the happiness with those around me. Especially the person who had to deal with a majority of my crash outs for the past year or so.
Five years I spent in the inn. It was practically my home.
And despite living day to day, I had been oddly content with that kind of life.
Maybe I quit a long time ago, before I even noticed.
A smile spread on my lips, whistling a tune only I knew. Starting from today, I wasn't going to settle for anything less this time.
Adventure and the glory of being a hero was the only life fit for me now.
I was the protagonist of my story.
I was going to be a HERO.
{---}
"The ass crack of dawn!"
A shout came spilling from my lips before my mind caught up, all the while a lance of pain speared itself deep within my skull.
After the sixth mug of alcohol, the drink rebelled against me, and thus, drunk Don was birthed from the unholy union.
What happened after that, I had only the vaguest inkling of.
One that was getting more and more muddied as time passed by.
Covering my eyes from the rays of the sun, I got off the bed, hoping to every god out there that I hadn't done anything too embarrassing while I was wasted.
However, once I was able to gain my bearings, sobriety struck like a speeding truck.
I could have sworn I slept in the inn…
And yet, where I found myself wasn't my room. But instead, a place that I least expected to see.
A dingy apartment unit that looked like the one I had before I did. Except of course, this was a bit smaller, and the smell of mold was a very persistent thing in the air.
Alright, what drugs did I take to be taken here.
Or… did the system finally activate?
[Mission has Been Issued]
Mission Name: Be a HERO?
A quaint county in Kentucky has been stricken with a deadly virus that gradually turned those infected by it into crazed lunatics exhibiting rabies-like symptoms. Thus, the government has issued a lockdown over the Knox County area, blocking off all exits.
As the days pass, rations turn scarce. And you realize that you have to go outside to forage for supplies. The situation is not, and will not get better while you stay inside. You have no other option but to escape.
"This is the story of how you die."
Objective: Leave Knox County
Bonus Objective: Save Ten People [0/10]
Reward: Inventory Function
Bonus Reward: Enchanted Sword
A pop up appeared before my eyes, freezing my blood still.
Alcohol would really be the death of me… But it was not the time to chastise myself for idiotic mistakes. I needed to lock in as fast as possible.
What did I currently know?
I was on a mission, worlds away from Terraria. An outbreak was sweeping through some place in Kentucky, with signs pointing to it being a zombie outbreak.
Not good.
Although, the situation wasn't so bad that it was hopeless. Just unnecessarily difficult due to the position I was put in.
Had I gotten even one accessory from Terraria, things would have been so much easier. From mobility to the effectiveness of my attacks, finishing my first outing away from Terraria would be a breeze compared to how things currently were.
However, there was no point in dwelling on the past.
I had a mission, and all the determination to see it all through till the end.
Going around the apartment, I found several items that might help me survive. A roll of duck tape, a regular kitchen knife, and a kid's ben 10 backpack was what my search netted me.
Looking at what I had in stock, I couldn't help but miss my sword. Or my other supplies for that matter.
For whatever reason, only the clothes on my back were spared during my travels.
Though I could have definitely gotten here naked, and hungover, instead of just hungover.
If I got out, I was going to thank Jeff for all he did.
Truly he was the Real hero between the two of us.
Shaking my head from those thoughts, I turned my sights onto the situation down stairs.
The apartments were built on top of restaurants in an area with a lot of foot traffic passing by daily. And when the virus hit, all that traffic turned into bodies for the undead.
Outside, several bodies stood still, shuffling at even the slightest sound, searching for victims.
But I needed to observe the situation before going out to hunt.
Afterall, these zombies might have been drastically more different compared to those in Terraria.
There, Zombies were corpses animated using magic, necromancer fodder. They functioned primarily off magic, consuming flesh to produce mana from the living tissue, and spreading the plague due to the lingering rot and decay on the undead's corpse.
And unlike in this world, zombies also knew how to use basic weapons while fighting.
Which was the primary factor to why they were such a threat in Terraria.
In contrast, I had a hard time seeing what made these guys so scary to normal people.
Slow moving, dumb, without a single redeeming quality going for them other than their enhanced senses and force of numbers.
But the same went for those in Terraria, and even a backwaters village was able to defend against a horde.
…
Seeing would have to believing. Because there was no way the virus wasn't culled within the first week.
Gritting my teeth, I looked around the room for a bit, grabbing the remote for the tv and chucked it out of the window.
It went as far as it could, soaring through the sky with a whistle, crashing in the restaurant across the street.
Observations would tell me all I needed to kn-
Not a second later, a zombie got on all fours, and sprinted like a dog, just to discover the broken remains of the remote I threw. Quickly becoming docile once it saw not a target in sight.
Okay, things were starting to make sense.
I was not dealing with the zombies from Terraria, but a much fiercer beast entirely.
Looking back at the kitchen knife I laid out, I suddenly couldn't help but wish my sword followed me into this world.
Whatever the company was putting me through was scuffed to hell and back. To not only force me to enter this hellhole without any equipment from Terraria, but to also expect me to contend with what was the rage virus on steroids was crazy work.
But at the same time, Heroes shined brightest in the bleakest of times.
And I was going to be the God damn Sun!